Mount Clemens meeting: lieutenant sworn in; department heads give quarterly reports

The Mount Clemens City Commission opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, swore in newly promoted fire Lieutenant Anthony Kirkham and heard quarterly reports from department heads covering community development, fire, human resources, finance, utilities and public services.

Brian Tingley of community development reported permit and code-enforcement activity, rental inspections and coordination with Artspace on a downtown feasibility visit; he noted ADA automatic door installation at the Ice Arena using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The fire department reported a marked increase in runs compared with last year, extensive training including active-assailant and confined-space drills, and the recent retirement of Lieutenant Jaywar. Sarah Price in human resources said the city employed 67 people in the quarter (58 full-time, 9 part-time), completed promotional oral boards for fire tests and continued recruitment for several positions. Cliff Mason in finance said tax bills (about 7,000) were mailed on time, reported month-to-month utility billing activity and said the city had completed a reconciliation with the county and received an excess check of roughly $700,000. Jay Pick from utilities described progress on water and wastewater projects, including removal of old ozone equipment and completion of a sand-filter rehabilitation, and reported 367 service requests handled in the quarter.

Alisa Vargas from the clerk’s office reminded the public that the city election will be held Nov. 5 and that the deadline to file for mayor and commission candidacy is July 23 at 4 p.m.; she also outlined business-license renewal activity and regional census outreach. The city manager’s report listed upcoming events including farmers markets and an Uptown Friday night concert series, and noted a Mount Clemens night at Jimmy John’s Field with discounts for residents.

Commissioners offered congratulations to Lieutenant Kirkham and praised department efforts; the meeting concluded after routine agenda votes and the adjournment motion.

The commission also approved routine consent-agenda items and minutes from the prior meeting during the session.